Read More

Mr Clarke said: “The challenge for the management team at Onley is to find ways to halt the decline, and there are clear lessons to be learned from what the inspection revealed about the reactive approach that had been taken to too many issues.

“There was a clear need for the leadership of the prison to get a grip of the problems facing them and move away from merely reacting to events.

“Of course staff shortages have had an impact on many areas of service delivery, but they did not offer an excuse for a decline in standards of the severity that we found. There was actually much good work being done at Onley.”

Michael Spurr, chief executive officer of the National Offender Management Service, said: “As the chief inspector points out, there is much good work being done at Onley but the deterioration in safety is unacceptable and reversing this is the governor’s top priority.

“Additional staff are being recruited to meet the commitments set out in the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper and the governor will use these additional resources to drive forward the improvements required.”